#221 Create Custom Shortcuts on a Mac

Mac OS X has built in keyboard shortcuts for many features, but why memorize when you can customize shortcuts? Here is how to customize keyboard shortcuts in Mac OS X:

Click on the Apple Logo in the top left corner and click “System Preferences”.

Click the “Keyboard” icon in the second row.

Click the tab labeled “Shortcuts”.

Here you will see a list of available shortcuts. Click on the name of the action, then click on the key combination you wish to edit. Once the key combination is highlighted, type the keys you would like to replace the current key combination.

You can also add your own custom shortcuts for any application:

From within the Keyboard Shortcuts panel, click on “App Shortcuts” in the left column.

Click the “+” that appears under the right column and a new panel will appear at the top.

From the drop down menu at the top, choose the application you wish to create a shortcut for.

In the “Menu Title” field, enter any command that is available in the top navigation bar when the application is open. You can use “->” to reference commands that are embedded within submenus. For example, in Safari you would type “File->Share->Twitter” to create a shortcut that shares your current page to Twitter.

In the “Keyboard Shortcut” field, enter the shortcut you would like to use for the command you entered in the “Menu Title” field.